02/03/2025

Local Students Back in Court, Arguing the First Amendment in Mock Trial Competition 

COLUMBUS (February 3, 2025) - Nearly 1,000 Ohio high school students are back in court, bringing them one step closer to representing Ohio at the National High School Mock Trial Competition in May. Out of the 254 teams that participated in the District Competition in January, 101 teams will now advance to the Ohio Center for Law-Related Education’s (OCLRE) 42^nd Annual Ohio Mock Trial Regional Competition, which will take place in courtrooms across the state on Friday, February 7.

The 2025 Ohio Mock Trial case examines the intersection of the First Amendment, defamation and the rise of generative artificial intelligence (AI). This case looks at what happens when the public interest in parody and political commentary bumps against the new capabilities for realistic deepfakes in a political campaign.  Denver Saidi, a candidate for the local city council and principal of Trillium High School, was giving a speech at the school’s Snow Ball Dance when they accidentally mispronounced a name. Instead of just laughing it off, Trillium student Wyatt Latu used a generative AI app to create a deepfake video of Saidi making jokes about fleeing from the cops after a night of drinking. Pretty soon, everyone in town had seen the video and many believed it was real. Saidi filed a lawsuit for defamation and sought a preliminary injunction to have the video taken down. Students will participate in the hearing to consider the preliminary injunction, weighing the legal factors that pit free speech against the damage to a person's reputation and campaign. 

According to Program Coordinator Jenna Lewis, the 2025 Mock Trial case gives students the opportunity to explore an area of the law that does not have a lot of set precedent. “The use of AI in entertainment, education and politics is a relatively new concept” Lewis said. “As generative AI becomes more prevalent and more convincing, the law will need to evolve to determine how to draw the line between free expression and accountability.” 

Each Ohio Mock Trial team consists of five to twelve students who assume the roles of attorneys and witnesses to present both sides of an original, unscripted case based on an important constitutional issue. Each team competes in two trials against opposing teams. At the Regional Competition, teams must win both trials to advance to the State Competition. More than 1,000 legal professionals serve as volunteer judges, competition coordinators and team advisors. Ohio Mock Trial is Ohio’s largest high school academic competition and among the largest high school mock trial programs in the nation. 

The Ohio Mock Trial Regional Competition is hosted in 11 counties throughout Ohio. The Ohio Center for Law-Related Education’s website has a complete list of teams participating in the Regional Competition on February 7, along with the location of each competition site. The website will be updated after the competition with a list of teams that qualify for the State Competition. 

The 2025 State Competition will take place over the course of three days, beginning on March 6 and ending with the State Championship which will be held at the Supreme Court of Ohio on March 8. The 2025 state champion team will represent Ohio at the National High School Mock Trial Competition on May 7-10 in Phoenix, AZ, hosted by the Arizona Bar Foundation. 

OCLRE is a non-profit, nonpartisan organization whose mission is to improve society by developing citizens empowered with an understanding of our democratic system. OCLRE is sponsored by the Supreme Court of Ohio, Ohio Attorney General, Ohio State Bar Association and the American Civil Liberties Union of Ohio Foundation. The Ohio Mock Trial program is made possible, in part, by a grant from the Ohio State Bar Foundation. For more information about OCLRE and its programs, visit www.oclre.org. 

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